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Talk:Rerich von Billiguether
Err... I'm afraid the case that von Billiguether means "cheap goods" may be somewhat overstated. Billig does mean cheap, but the German word for "goods" is [http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/Gut#German Güter.] Guether is a German name and surname, and seems to be a variant spelling of Güther. However, I am not finding an etymology for it, except the possibility that it is of Jewish origin. Furthermore, Google is translating "cheap goods" as billigware. "Billig Güter" does not appear to be a valid phrase, and all of the results are coming back with the meaning "good" (as in, "not bad") rather than "goods/wares/merchandise", e.g., Guter, billiger Laptop? ("good, cheap laptop?") and Guter Rat ist billig ("Good advice is cheap"). I am pretty sure von Billiguether is nonsense that sounds like "billygoat." Nectarbug (talk) 00:08, April 15, 2014 (UTC) : Thanks for your input. I agree that Google Translate doesn't seem to support the idea that Billiguether means "cheap goods." It may be intended to be nonsense, it may be an inside joke that the Foglios alone understand, it may be the name of a real person that is being worked into the comic as part of the Girl Genius volume 12 Kickstarter fulfillment, or it may even be an error in German on the Foglios part. While it does start with a "billy" sound alike, I don't think the last part is particularly close to goat, however. I'll take out the reference, pending further information, but feel free to make edits yourself in the future. -- William Ansley (talk) 02:45, April 15, 2014 (UTC) : uh, actually, the translation was pretty good, i think. all Üs used to be "ue"s and quite a number of words that are now spelled with a T used to be spelled with "th". now, "Billig Güter" is indeed no valid phrase, but "Billiggüter" is. and "billig" (especially when it is used in a compound noun like this) often DOES have a negative connotation. : also, i've never heard the name "Guether" before. were you maybe thinking of "Gue'n'''ther? Finn MacCool (talk) 23:06, April 20, 2014 (UTC) :: OK. I added a version of this idea back to the page. Plus, assuming the "semi-anonymous poster" is telling the truth (and I see no reason to assume otherwise), I gotta say I called it when I said, "it may be the name of a real person that is being worked into the comic as part of the Girl Genius volume 12 Kickstarter fulfillment," in my comment above. Of course, I did cover pretty much every possible option in that comment, but still... -- William Ansley (talk) 01:22, April 21, 2014 (UTC) : Billiguether is the same, phonetically, as Billiggüter; "ue" is just a different way of writing "ü", and together with the "h" (which does very little, phonetically) imparts a bit of chique. "Billig Guenther" would be a nickname, and while it's not impossible to end up as a surname, Rerich's surname ''is Billiguether. Apart from that, I don't know why someone would use Google Translate to dismiss the explanation from someone who actually speaks German, and knows how to pun in that language (which GT is totally unable to).--Stoneshop (talk) 07:01, April 21, 2014 (UTC) :: Just because someone implies or even states he or she is a native German speaker in this forum, doesn't mean that they really are. This is the Internet, after all. I'm done editing this entry, at least as far as speculations on the origin of the name "Billiguether" go. If you are unhappy with the current contents of the entry, you are free to change it. -- William Ansley (talk) 12:32, April 21, 2014 (UTC) ::: No, I'm snarky at Nectarbug, who clearly doesn't know German and takes Google Translate's response that "Billiguether" isn't a proper German word (strictly speaking, it indeed isn't, but it is a phonetical rendering of "Billige Güter") as a validation to simply delete that info. Und du bist frei zu glauben das ich kein Deutsch spreche; wir sind hier letztendlich im Internet, und keiner weiss ja auch das du ein Hund bist. --Stoneshop (talk) 13:28, April 21, 2014 (UTC) :::: Woof. Corgi (talk) 20:16, August 8, 2014 (UTC) The semi-anonymous poster says '"Billiguether" is from an old legend in his family, which showed just how much surnames could change when illiterate, non English speaking immigrants were processed at Ellis Island when they came to the United States.', so if that's true it seems the name wasn't chosen by the authors to mean anything. https://girlgeniuscomic.livejournal.com/266023.html?thread=12984615#t12984615 02:32, August 6, 2014 (UTC)